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Monday, July 10, 2017

White
Pepper was nearing the end of
the season by early June. We had spent a delightful several weeks in
the Abacos seeing old haunts and old friends. Sister, Susan, and
niece, Emma, flew in for a whirlwind visit. We were able to have two
long stretches at Treasure Cay, one in the company of new friends
Bill and Mary Ellen from Sea Escape.
Sandra and Jens from Kobald
were able to stop by for one day at Marsh Harbor before tearing off
through the Man-o-War Channel headed for the Chesapeake Bay. They
made it 6 days later without problems.

However,
the Bahamas in the summer is for power boaters who can quickly duck
back to Florida or for sail boaters who have a credible hurricane
plan. After all, Hurricane Matthew had just devastated this part of
world only 10 months earlier.

Dreading
another hot slog up the ICW White Pepper
resolved to take the East Coast of Florida in one jump. In 2015
White Pepper had made
a last stop at Grand Cay in the NW corner of the Bahamas before
jumping off through the nearby Walker Cay Channel for the St. John's
River. That trip worked out very well mostly because of a marvelous
weather window. We wanted to try this route again.

Robert Briscoe

Susan, Emma, and taxi driver

Sandra and Jens

Good
friend, Robert Briscoe, flew in to help and get his first Gulf Stream
crossing. A weather window opened up for the middle of the week.
Although the winds would be from a favorable direction they could be
too light. And thunder storms were likely as they almost always are
this time of the year in Florida.

Fortunately,
White Pepper, still
had the extra diesel jerry cans from the Ragged Island trip. I
calculated that if we could sail all of one day we could motor the
rest of the way. If there was no wind, we had enough fuel to motor
to Cape Canaveral.

White
Pepper topped up fuel at Marsh
Harbor, Great Abaco Island and there also filed a float plan over the
internet with the US Customs and Border Patrol. The float plan would
allow us to clear customs in Florida with only a phone call.

Next
stop was Treasure Cay again, then around Whale Cay Passage to Allen's
Pensacola Cay. We had to motor most of that day. From Allen's
Pensacola Cay is possible to gain the Atlantic through a nearby
passage, but we chose to stay on the Little Bahama Banks as long as
possible. We headed West for Grand Cay about 50 miles away. The
wind lightened and we again had to motor. About 4 miles short of
Grand Cay White Pepper
left the dotted line and headed for Walker's Channel. We elected to
skip Grand Cay in order to get Robert back in time to catch a
scheduled flight.

Whale Cay from offshore

Hurricane
Matthew may have moved some sand around last year changing the
channel. However, by going from way point to way point as recommend
in the Waterways Guide to the Bahamas, we never saw less than 11 feet
depth. By coincidence we were leaving at low tide. However, I could
clearly see some shallow spots between the center of this wide open
channel and Little Walker's Cay several miles away.

Upon
leaving the banks the wind picked up nicely and White
Pepper could sail freely and
fast. It was about 6:30 pm so we had 2 hours to settle down before
sunset. A huge crackling thunderstorm started about 10 miles away.
It slowly moved off to the North West away from us (traveling North
by North West). The night watches were quiet, pleasant and passed
quickly. By 3 am the stars and the nearly full moon were shining down
as a gentle breeze pushed us along.

Dawn, the photo does not adequately show the subtle colors

My
game plan was to cross the Gulf Steam in the morning before the
thunderstorms picked up. So at dawn White Pepper
started her motor and headed due West. We crossed the axis at noon in
conditions so benign that Robert joked he would have to have a repeat
trip to earn his stripes. The GPS was recording speeds of 8 to 10
knots. Later in the afternoon the wind filled in from the South West
as predicted, and we could sail until sunset. There were
thunderstorms in the distance, but none came close. From there on it
was a brisk motor all the way to the St. John's River jetties. Part
of the hurry was to arrive in time for the flooding current. We
cleared the jetties at 1:30 pm with 2 or 3 knots of incoming current.
We had done 240 miles in 32 hours. Curiously, on the St. John's River
maximum flood current is at low tide and slack water is at mid tide.
We were quickly carried up to Jacksonville docking at our regular
spot in the free Jacksonville Municipal Marina. We tied up at 5:30
pm in the shadow of the Jacksonville Jaguars football stadium. This
was almost 16 months after we had departed from the same slip so long ago.
The next day was an easy motor, albeit in the rain, to White
Pepper's haul out destination
Green Cove Springs Marina.

This
post may seem overly long and detailed, but I wanted to make some
points for anyone planning a similar trip. First, get some north
miles the first night, cross the Gulf Steam early on the second day,
and finish the trip along the coast during the second night and early
the next day. Also be mindful of the strong currents in the St.
John's River. White Pepper
was pleased to learn that Sea Escape followed
the same route two weeks later with no problems.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Hawksbill
Cay is the last major anchorage of the Exuma Land and Sea Park not
visited by White Pepper.
Located about half way between the popular stops of Shroud Cay and
Waderwick Wells, Hawksbill is easy to skip. However, it has its own
charms. White Pepper
left Black Point and easily made Hawksbill after a pleasant sail. We
picked up a mooring ball.

Southern Anchorage at Hawksbill Cay

Hawksbill
has spectacular snorkeling, but the wind was too high to let us
snorkel. Rather we explored the small island. There were several
small beaches. The highest point of the island is marked by a large
cairn and has a short trail. The view from the cairn is amazing.

Selfie at the cairn

View from the cairn looking west, White Pepper on a mooring

The
highlight of the visit was a trip up the tidal creek that pierces the
island from the banks to close to the ocean. After landing the dingy
Jan and I bush bashed through the palmettos for about a quarter of a
mile to the Atlantic beach. After visiting the beach we got lost on
the way back to the dingy and had to bash a fresh trail. The trip
made me marvel at what a life the loyalist settlers must have had
when they briefly inhabited this island in the late 18th
century.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

White
Pepper has long been fascinated
by the back side of Great Exuma Island or the sout' side as the
locals call it. Its virtues are extolled in the Explorer Chartbook
(Exuma and Ragged Islands, sixth edition, page 56). Few cruisers go
there although friends Ken and Connie on Oz
transited in 2015.

While
at Flamingo Cay we spoke with a fisherman from Spanish Wells. He
said that the boat routinely went home by way of the Duck Rocks. By
that he meant the Coakley Cay-Duck Cay cut. White Pepper
was determined to give it try as it would mean a significant short
cut over the old Comer Channel, Sandy Cay and the George Town route.
It would in addition eliminate two trips into Exuma Sound although
this time of year the Sound is rarely a problem.

White
Pepper left Flamingo Cay and
headed North Northwest across the Great Bahama Banks. The Explorer
Chart proclaimed the area full of coral heads, but they were easily
seen and avoided in the bright sunlight. There is one area of coral
5 miles south of Coakley Cay that is about 40 acres in extent and as
little as six feet deep. It is well marked on the Explorer Chart and
easily avoided. Most of the time we were in 20 feet of water.

We
were fortunate enough to hit the Coakley-Duck cut at high tide and
never saw less than eleven feet of depth which would be 8 feet at low
tide. There are a few coral heads in the cut, but again they are
easily seen when the sun is out.

The
only anxiety is on the stretch between the Duck Cay way point and
Rocky Point Cay. The water was only 8 feet deep at about half tide.
The charted depth varies between 6 and 7 feet. The western side of the cut is marked by the Hawksbill Rocks which are difficult to see.

Duck Cay

Hawksbill Rocks

Rocky
Point was our halfway mark and anchorage for the night. One can
anchor on either side so the only wind that is not protected is SW.
Of course the wind that night was from the SW but so light that we
were not disturbed.

Rocky Point

The
next leg of our course was way out into the banks to a way point
that was closer to the Tongue of the Ocean than to the Exuma Sound. This
detour is to avoid the Galliot Banks. The wind had built and backed
to the SSW which gave White Pepper a nice run under reefed
genoa and no main sail. A gybe at the Galliot Banks way point took us
to Little Farmer's Cay. Another gybe brought us to our destination
at Black Point. White Pepper done 90 miles in two day sails.
We never saw another sailboat during those two days and only one
fishing boat on the banks.

This
route is an excellent way to come north quickly from the Jumentoes if
you do not need to stop at George Town to resupply. The Explorer
Chart touts the route as a protected way to go south in the winter
with Thompson's Bay, Long Island as a final destination. However,
White Pepper felt exposed on this trip and would hate to try
the passage in a hard northerly or northeasterly blow. It might even
be worse in a brisk southerly breeze. Perhaps there is a good reason
why cruisers chose the Exuma Sound by 100:1 over the banks route.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

White
Pepper has long wished to visit
the Jumentoes also known as the Ragged Island Chain. The Jumentoes
are a chain of small windswept limestone out croppings that mark the
southeastern edge of the Great Bahama Bank. The last island is
Ragged Island where Duncan Town stands on a low ridge only 60 miles
from Cuba. Cuba is actually closer to Duncan Town than George Town
which is the next nearest habitation.

White
Pepper visited the northern
two islands, Water Cay and Flamingo Cay, in 2014 before turning back
due to electrical and refrigeration problems.

The
Jumentoes are uninhabited except for 60 souls hanging on at Duncan
Town. There are no services, no water, no fresh groceries, no booze,
no fuel, and no rescue. There are few places to ride out a frontal
weather passage and no harbors with 360 degree protection. When the
wind blows hard from the East the 8 mile wide Nurse Channel is
impassable. White Pepper's
plan for dealing with these difficulties was to wait until late
Spring to visit when the weather is better. Finally we got a long
spell of forecasted settled weather in early May.

This
year we dropped anchor first at Water Cay after a long motor sail
from George Town around Sandy Cay and through the Comer Channel at
near high tide.

The white bluffs at Water Cay

The next day dawned clear and calm—perfect
conditions to transit the difficult Man of War Channel and Nurse
Channel. During most of the day there were not even ripples on the
water and the bottom was clearly visible. It was like motoring in
our own private aquarium.

Sailing on top of our own aquarium

After
motoring about 40 miles and crossing the Nurse Channel the first stop
was Buenavista Cay. Only one person, Ed Lockhart, lives on
Buenavista Cay and we anchored just in front of his house. The house
has been under construction for years. Ed was born and raised on the
site. After many years he has returned to homestead and reclaim his
family's heritage.

Ron and Ed Lockhart on Buenavista Cay

Buenavista Cay has the longest beach in the
Jumentoes. We were able to walk most of it in one morning. However,
by noon it was up anchor and on to our ultimate destination, Hog Cay,
near Duncan Town. Our friends, Ron and Linda, on Escape from Reality were
waiting for us at the Hog Cay Yacht Club, which is really just a nice
halapa on the beach. Ed told us that he build the structure.

The Hog Cay Yacht Club

Hog Cay hosts a regular contingent of cruiser's
for most of the winter. As in George Town the cruisers have hacked
out trails. We followed on of these through a pond and on to a
perfect small beach on the Atlantic. After Hog Cay White
Pepper headed north to the next
cay, Raccoon Cay. Raccoon Cay turned out to be out favorite with
beautiful beaches, great shelling and fantastic snorkeling off the
beach.

At Raccoon Cay with friends, note boats in the background

The Atlantic side of Hog Cay. There was very little plastic on the beach probably due to the efforts of the winter cruisers.

We made another stop at Buenavista Cay and were able to meet
Ed and his son. The next day had favorable tide and weather to
recross the Nurse Channel although we had to leave at dawn. By
leaving early we were able to anchor at Flamingo Cay at noon. During
this leg White Pepper
was challenged to an informal race by new friends, Yens and Sandra,
on Kobald.

Racing Kobald in Man of War Channel

Flamingo
Cay is known for spectacular snorkeling and its “dingy drive in”
cave. We were fortunate to be able to spend two and half delightful
days there in mild conditions.

The dingy cave

Inside the dingy cave near low tide

Jens and Sandra at Flamingo Cay in front of a pond. The red color is due to a biological process.

For
the trip back to the Exumas White Pepper
went up the back side or sout' side which will be the subject of
another post.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

This
year was the 63rd Family National Island Regatta held in
Elizabeth Harbor near George Town, Exuma, Bahamas. The first regatta
was held in 1954 as a way to celebrate the end of fishing season.
Originally the actual fishing sailing sloops were the race boats.
Over the years the fishing boats were motorized; however, the
sailing sloops were preserved and refined as race boats.

Tida Wave with two full pry boards

The sloops
come in all sizes and race in 5 classes—A thru E. All have to look
like traditional fishing sloops with long full keels, long booms,
huge over canvassed mains, small jibs, and no winches. The most
noticeable feature is a “pry board” which is run out to windward
on every tack. Several men hike out on the board trying to hold down
the overly large main sail.

Barbarian, a class C sloop, at the top mark. Note the large main sail.

The
Bahamians hold several of these regattas around the country at
different islands, usually about one per month except December and
January. However, the George Town regatta is the grand daddy of them
all and is recognized as the national championship. The regatta also
serves as an excuse to have a party/festival/homecoming for the
locals. Large numbers of Bahamians crowd into town including the
reviled “Nassau people.” We cruisers are cautioned to lock up
everything when “those people” are in town. However, White
Pepper, never encountered any
unpleasantness during the four day festival.

The Police Band opens up the closing festivities.

On
Wednesday there were stand alone races for each class. On Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday there was a series. Classes C,D, and E started
together every morning. These boats typically have a crew of between
two and five. There were probably 30 boats on the line. Although the
race is supposed to start at 9 am, in practice, it starts when
everybody shows up and is ready. The class B start is nominally at
noon. There were 10 boats on the line. This was the most closely
contested race every day. These boats are about 30 feet long and
carry a crew of between 5 and 8. Class A is later in the afternoon.
The class A boats are spectacular. They are fast, powerful and
graceful. They are 40 feet long and carry a crew of between 12 and
18 . Most of the large crew is used as shifting ballast. Some of
the boats use two pry boards in parallel, stacking 8 men out on the
boards. There were only 7 boats in class A. The start was easily the
most interesting part of their race. After the start class A was
largely a parade with the famous Tida Wave usually
leading wire to wire.

Just after the start of race 2 for class A. Click on pictures for a better look.

The finish of race 2 for class A. This was the only close finish for the class A boats with Tida Wave winning by a few seconds.

Rules
change over the years for the Bahamian sloops, and I have not seen a
complete set of rules. In the past skippers did not have to go back
to pick up crew that accidentally or deliberately fell overboard. It
is quite easy to fall off or get knocked off the pry board. Recently,
that rule has changed to conform to the international rules. The
most notable difference from yacht racing in the USA is that the
boats start from an anchored position. When the gun goes off some of
the crew pull on the anchor trying to get a little way on. The rest
of the crew hauls up the sails without having the benefit of winches
to tension the luff. The first sloop to get her sails full obviously
has a huge advantage. The rest of the race proceeds much as a yacht
race in America would except for the downwind legs. The boats
proceed “wing and wing” downwind with huge mainsail out to port
(always) and the small jib to weather which is always starboard. The
pry board is used as necessary to balance the mail. The main sail on
the Bahamian sloop is so large that jibing the boat would be unwise
in any breeze at all. An accidental jibe might sweep men overboard
and likely snap the mast. So the race course is always set up so
that the downwind legs are on starboard board without jibes.

Class B boats running down to bottom mark, but no gybing.

I
wish I could tell readers who won, but White Pepper
did not go to the trophy presentation. The race committee has not yet
discovered the internet. In class A Tida Wave from
Staniel Caycertainly
won for the 19th
time (not an exaggeration) followed closely by Running Tide from
Long Island. These two were clearly superior to the other five. The racing was much more closely contested in class B.

Furious action in class B

Ashore
there was plenty of activity. The city has constructeTd a new
bulkhead at Regatta Park and behind that there is a new gravel covered
field where shacks were constructed for a festival site. The bulkhead was a surprise as it is rare these days for anything to get built and finished on time in the Bahamas. We spent
most of Saturday at the Regatta Park or the Peace and Plenty Resort
with friends soaking in the atmosphere and watching the races from
ashore. Otherwise we were out in the dingy, Habanero,
taking in the races from various vantage points around the course.

Monday, May 15, 2017

White
Pepper is anchored at Salt
Pond, Long Island waiting on gentler winds. We are perfectly
comfortable in these protected waters but have a lot of time on our
hands.

One
day we choose to tag along with our friends Ron and Linda from Escape
from Reality on a rented car
excursion.

Long
Island is 90 miles long and we certainly could not see it all in one
day. After some discussion we headed north for the Columbus Monument
on Cape Santa Maria. Columbus may have anchored under the white
bluffs of this modest cliff. From his log book he certainly seemed
to have visited Long Island and cruised the its coast before being
blown over to French Wells on Crooked Island. In order to
commemorate the event in 1492 and maybe encourage more tourism, the
Bahamians have erected a monument atop Cape Santa Maria on the
northern most tip of Long Island.

Alert
readers will remember the Columbus Monument from a picture in the previous post. The monument is barely visible from sea. Thus we were
unprepared for the awesome beauty of the place. Pictures can tell
the tale better than words.

Columbus Bay

Columbus Monument

View to the South from the Monument

For
lunch we visited the Stella Maris Resort which is about 15 miles
south down the Queen's Highway. By the way the Queen's Highway is the
only highway on the island. Stella Maris is routinely described in
guide books as world class and 5 star, but it seemed a bit
threadbare to my eye. We did have a lovely lunch there.

Easily
the number one attraction on Long Island is Dean's Blue Hole—the
site of the world's record for free diving. The blue hole is part of
a beautiful bay that comes off of the Atlantic. The bay and beach
are attractive in their own right, but the blue hole engenders a
different feeling altogether. Although only 80 x 120 across on the
surface it goes down for 680 feet—the equivalent of a 40 story
building. Also it has claimed a number of lives due to accidents and
dare deviltry.

Dean's Blue Hole

Finally
we finished up a great day with a couple of beers and conch fritters
at Max' Conch House and Bar in Deadman's Cay.

Friday, April 7, 2017

White
Pepper has been to Calabash Bay
several times over the years and has many happy memories of the
place. So it was with anticipation that we hauled past Cape Santa
Maria and into Calabash Bay on the northern tip of Long Island. This
was the third spot Columbus was reported to have visited in the New
World. Conception Island was the second. Calabash Bay is 20 miles or so
from George Town. It was made famous by Bruce van Sant as the first
spot on a “Gentleman's Guide to Passages South”-- that is the
trip from George Town, Bahamas to Lupron, DR. It is rolly and
exposed to every wind except the prevailing Southeasterly.

Cape Santa Maria. One can barely see the Columbus Monument on top of the cliff.

We
sighted on the famous Yellow House at the south end of the anchorage
to avoid the fringing reef and anchored in 9 feet of crystal clear
water over sand.

Yellow House

White
Pepper's reasons for stopping
at Calabash Bay were to show guest, Barb Mathis, another beautiful
spot in the Bahamas and to explore Joe's Creek. Joe's Creek is a deep
and wide creek with 360 degree protection just one mile south of
Calabash Bay. We have always heard and read about this anchorage but
were deterred from visiting by the entrance. We set out to explore
by dingy. Indeed the entrance is formidable being only 6 feet deep
at low water and about 30 feet wide with rocky shore on both sides.
Today the entrance was peaceful. Once inside White Pepper
was treated to an idyllic
Bahamas scene of swiftly flowing deep and clear water over sand.
There seemed to be plenty of space to anchor numerous boats. White
Pepper may someday bring the
big boat there at slack tide high water and when there is no swell
running in Exuma Sound.

Entrance to Joe's Creek

The Captain Max on a bad day

Wide and deep. Plenty of room to anchor once inside Joe's Creek

If
Joe's Creek was a place to hide and get away from civilization, then
on the other end of Calabash Bay was one of the refinements of
civilization—the Cape Santa Maria Club. This is a high end resort
that competes with the near by and world famous Stella Maris resort.
Rooms start at $400/night. However, they welcome scruffy cruisers in
dingies. White Pepper went
there with fellow cruisers, Ron and Linda from Escape from Reality, for
lunch. We all had a relaxed and delicious meal. The contrast to
the wilderness of Joe's Creek could not have been more vivid.